WHAT'S THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING A FREELANCER?

You simply can't put a price on the quality time spent with your loved ones. For Eman, this is one of the things that he loves about freelancing. Working from home allows him to see his kids grow. Compared to his former life as a call center employee, he has more time to make memories with them and this gives him more opportunities to instill the fear of God in their hearts and train them to walk in the right path.

Like most call center employees, there were times when he had to choose between going to work to please his bosses and spending time with his family during important events and celebrations.

Thanks to freelancing, he no longer has to worry about that.

Eman is also grateful for a lot of changes that happened to him ever since he started working from home:

*more control of his time and income

*no more struggle with bad weather conditions during commute

*earning enough not only to provide for one's family but to be a blessing to other people, too.

This comes as no surprise from someone who's had humble beginnings.

What motivated him to take the leap of faith? What do you think are the traits and attitudes Emman has that helped him in his freelancing journey? What are the lessons can we take from his story to use in our freelancing journey and life as a whole?

Watch the replay here.

Notable Quotes:

• Paano ba kami nagstart? Sa iba diyan na iniisip ninyo na magastos sa pagstart sa pagiging freelancer, bigyan ko po kayo ng idea. Kami ni misis hiningi lang po namin yung laptop ng bayaw ko at binigyan niya kami ng laptop. Hindi naman kami agad nagka internet pero yung kaibigan namin na teacher sabi niya “Kuya hindi ko na kailangan internet ko baka gusto ninyong i-take over”. Salamat sa Diyos kasi pinayagan yung asawa ko na kunin yun, pumayag ang Globe kahit wala siyang trabaho that time.
• First, we studied everything. Pinag-aralan namin paano pumasa sa interview, pinatulan namin lahat ng mga libreng trainings. Hindi na kami naging maarte, kumbaga pinatulan namin lahat kung sinong mago-offer ng free, anything free. Kahit yung mga ina-upload ni Jayson na snippets yung mga ilang minutes na videos talagang pinapanood namin.
• The struggle is real. Pero we hold on to God’s promise. Sabi nga sa Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and everything shall be added unto you. There’s also a verse that we’re holding on na i-commit mo lahat ng ginagawa mo kay Lord and yung success nasa hands kasi ni Lord.
• So you see, if you were planning to be in this career and you wanna start all you have to do is to have faith, tanggalin mo yung pagiging choosy. You have to really step up na kahit anong i-offer sa’yo i-take mo muna just for the sake na matuto ka.
• Nakakatulong kami sa mga parents namin. Yung mga kapatid namin nabibigyan namin ng trabaho pagka may mga trabahong pwede naman nilang gawin. Imagine mo yung hindi ka na mahihiyang mangutang kasi nga ngayon ikaw na yung hihingan ng tulong. Ano pa ba perks nito? Madadala mo yung mga anak mo sa mga Kids Zone na, habang naglalaro sila yung mga clients mo ini-entertain mo, inaayos mo mga accounts nila. You can go to the mall nag-ienjoy and you can answer to your clients anytime, anywhere kahit saan ka sa Pilipinas. Anywhere basta may internet. Kung brown-out dito sa bayan na’to move to the next bayan dun ka magtrabaho.
• It was not an easy start but once you decide and take that leap of faith a lot of things will change. It can actually change for the better. Nabi-build yung confidence mo and then other opportunities will open kasi people can see you as reliable na eh kasi nama-manage mo na yung life mo.
• Walang makakapantay dun sa mabibigay na oras sa pamilya. Yung alam mong gigising ka kahit di ka pa nagtu-toothbrush log-in ka, habang nagtu-toothbrush ka nag-aantay ka ng client or customer sa customer service. Pwede kang magkape habang nagtatrabaho ka, pwede mong kainin yung favorite mong pancake.
• Una sa lahat yun nga, sabi nga ni Phoenix you have to have motivation. Be confident when you learn something new. And always remember the reason why you are deciding to become a freelancer. Ang motivation mo diyan ang pinakamabigat diyan na talagang magpu-push sa’yo, leverage mo diyan family mo number 1. Aside from the fact that you can travel and you can afford to travel na. Once you get the hang of this freelance world maa-amaze ka kasi makaka-travel ka na hindi mo inaalala yung trabaho mo. Kasi pwede mo namang dalhin ang trabaho mo.
• Nakakagulat din, there are some clients na bibigyan ka nila ng trabaho na napakadali and then they will give you compensation na feeling mo di mo deserve kasi sobrang laki.
• If you can get insurance for your kids, for you, for your family, that’s something that can also be a boost to your economic condition. Yung peace of mind na mapo-provide nun. Those are some other things that I want to share na kapagka na-reach mo na yung certain success in this industry. Which YOU WILL. You will, just stick to the plan, just stick to the process.
• Very welcoming ang freelancing world. Ang mga clients, they don’t really care about your educational background. What they really care about is, can you deliver? Can you reach the target? Can you set a goal? Can you reach that goal?
• Ang freelancing world binibigyan ka niya ng freedom - freedom to be something else. It doesn’t matter where you come from. It’s an amazing experience being in this industry.
• Ang gusto ko kay Jayson kasi hinalo na niya yung experience niya pati yung technical knowledge. He made it simplified. He communicated it very well. Iko-compare ko sa mga Udemy courses na na-attendan ko, kaya, kayang tapatan ng mga courses sa VA Bootcamp yung ibang mga platform in the internet.

Emmanuel’s Journey to Freelancing:

• Year 2016 when close friends of Emman and his wife came to visit them and encourage them to enter the world of freelancing. They then decided to prepare the equipment & tools needed to start.
• They did not have a laptop so what they did was to ask the unused one of his brother-in-law. It’s already been poured of their baby’s milk but it is still working until now.
• They didn’t have the internet at first, luckily a friend teacher offered them to take-over his internet. Fortunately, his wife has been granted to use it by the provider even without having a job.
• Before officially starting this career, Emman decided to quit his call center job and make use of his remaining salary/back pay to invest in freelancing. This was their leap of faith.
• When all has been set up, the first important thing they did was learn everything. They studied how to pass interviews and availed every free training and resources online.
• It was December when they got their first-ever client in which after a week a typhoon hit their hometown. The calamity caused their area to lose electric power for three months.
• To continue their work, Emman borrowed laptops from family friends and charge them to their neighbor who has a generator. By 6 PM he would wait in line to charge the devices. This was their cycle for three months.
• Because of freelancing, their income reached a whopping 300% increase. It was then they got the chance to enroll in the courses offered by Sir Jayson.
• They continued learning and after a year got the second client. After three months, their clients keep coming until they had five. There are times when Emman takes over the tasks of his wife for her clients and vice versa.
• Emman and his family are now able to travel without worrying about the expenses. He and his wife are able to give work and help financially their families.
• Currently, Emman is not only receiving online freelance work but also offline works.

Q & A Highlights:

Yung sa sinabi mong three months na nag-aral muna kayo, kasi nag-aaral pa lang kayo wala pa kayong clients during that time. What made you to stick to the process na naniwala ka and you still kept on learning bago ka nagkaroon ng client?

Once you learn something new, para sa akin, para sa amin ni Lyn, nakaka-boost siya ng confidence once you know something can work. Especially if naturuan ka ng somebody who has been there kumbaga yung tinabas na niya yung gubat bago ka pa dumaan dun. Napakalaking bagay na may mentor ka. Jayson, Miss Anna, these are a few of them na talagang tumulong sa’min sa journey namin. Very thankful kami kay Miss Anna at kay Sir Jayson at sa group ng FLIP. Napakadaling magtanong, napakadaling kumuha ng answers. At hindi sila masungit sa information, yun yung pinakagusto ko sa group ng FLIP.

Anong niche ninyo ni misis?

Niche ni misis, all around si misis eh. Very analytical siya kaya VA ang kanyang niche, Virtual Assistant. Pero lahat kaya niyang gawin eh. Ako, ang niche ko is customer service. Voice, I love talking over the phone and then I love sending emails to clients to customers. Nakuha ko yun sa pagiging BPO employee ko. Very thankful ako sa experience ko sa BPO kasi yun yung naging stepping stone. I’m also into research kasi most of the clients na kinukuha ko kay misis or nakukuha ko personally more on research. I’m into customer service, research and sales din. Kaya ko yun sales.

What made you decide you go to VABootcamp, kung tutuusin nag-aral ka na before you even enrolled in VA. Nasa process na kayo, you’re already on your way. So what made you decide to still study in VA Bootcamp?

What I learned from my mentor before, whenever you are on a new set of task, whenever you’re gonna do something different, you have to find the humility na hindi kamo’t may experience ka na ay alam mo na lahat sa bago mong papasukin. Sa amin ni Lin, we understand na kapagka may bago kang gagawin importanteng humble ka na iko-consider mo muna yung sarili mo na wala ka munang alam. Kahit hindi ako nakapag-college, I value learning. I really like learning something new. Sa VABootcamp, nandoon yung specific need namin especially social media marketing. Very much needed namin siya ni Lin that time kasi may client kami na yan yung una niyang pinagawa sa’min. Yung courses kasi ni Jayson is very simple,very easy to understand and you can apply them step by step.

May pangitain bang may future kayo through freelancing? Or were you just really blindly following the process? Sabi mo leap of faith right, what gave you more faith sa pag-leap mo na yan?

What gave us more faith siguro dahil yung kaibigan ko dumating and may friend rin si Lin na VA na din. Sila din yung nag-encourage sa amin na pwede ninyong gawin ‘to. Pareho silang pumasyal, hindi pa kami freelancer nun. They both went in the same year - that was 2016. They were of course carrying their jobs with them. Isa yun sa mga nag-push sa’min na we can do this and of course aside from the fact na you have to really have that faith.

Anong success rate na nakita mo nung nandun ka pa lang sa stage na pedicab driver ka pa lang, were you able to foresee na at some point in your life ganito ang mangyayari sa buhay mo?

In a way nangangarap ako pero hindi ko pa siya nakita. When you start to pray about it kasi nagbibigay yun ng peace. Once you are confident about what you pray for hindi naman kasi sa’yo manggagaling. God will show you where you have to go to. It’s up to you if you will take that step towards that direction. Sa experience na nakita ko, mostly we, people, we try to control our lives so much. It’s understandable of course when there are struggles in life. Isa sa mga maipapayo sa kapwa ko na nangangarap nang kahit ano, first thing we have to do is pray. Humble ourselves, humble our hearts. Seek His Kingdom, He will show us the way. If I didn’t do that siguro wala ako sa interview ngayon. Baka nagpi-pedicab pa rin ako ngayon.

Were you ever insecure of your educational background dito sa freelancing?

Sa freelancing, hindi. Mas naramdaman ko yung welcoming, very welcoming ang freelancing world. Ang mga clients, they don’t really care about your educational background. What they really care about is, can you deliver? can you reach the target? Can you set a goal? Can you reach that goal? Compared to the regular setup sa dati kong work, educational background is really one of the factors na maghi-hinder sa’yo towards a certain goal. Ang freelancing world binibigyan ka niya freedom - freedom to be something else. It doesn’t matter where you come from. It’s an amazing experience being in this industry.

Nahirapan ba kayong mag-aral sa VA Bootcamp? In your opinion, was it difficult?

It’s not easy but not very difficult. Jayson teaches in a way - very practical. Ang gusto ko kay Jayson kasi hinalo na niya yung experience niya pati yung technical knowledge. He made it simplified. He communicated it very well. Iko-compare ko sa mga Udemy courses na na-attendan ko, kayang tapatan ng mga courses sa VA Bootcamp yung ibang mga platform in the internet.

Ang pinakagusto ko kay Jayson, yung courses niya ay naka-adapt talaga sa Filipino setup. Talagang pang-Pilipino siya.